At Paharganj, park in a stack

To ensure a smooth flow of traffic in Paharganj and the surrounding areas, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has come up with an automatic stack parking lot in the area. Neelam Pandey reports.

To ensure a smooth flow of traffic in Paharganj and the surrounding areas, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has come up with an automatic stack parking lot in the area.

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The parking lot, which was constructed in three months and will be made functional from February, has cost Rs 4.8 crore. The civil structure of the parking lot is complete and the MCD has applied to the Delhi Fire Services (DFS) for a clearance.

With the parking space shrinking in the city, the civic agency decided to go for hydraulic stack parking system under which cars can be moved vertically or horizontally with power hydraulic lifts. One will have to shell out R10 per hour for parking a vehicle in the parking lot, which has the capacity for 90 equivalent car spaces (ECS).

“It is a state-of-the-art parking lot. We have used a Singapore-style automated stack car parking system.

The computer system will give information about the vacant slots and cars will be parked accordingly. The person will be given a computerised receipt,” said a senior MCD official.

A private firm will operate and maintain the system for three years. With a minimum human interference, it will ensure that people will not have to haggle with parking attendants.

“Normally in any multi-level parking lot one has to drive inside and then has to walk his or her way out. This is not quite safe and can result in accidents,” added the official.

“Under the stack parking system, people will have to simply hand over keys to the attendant and does not need to enter the parking lot as it is mechanically operated,” the official said further.

The civic agency will soon start constructing a road in front of the parking lot through which people will be able to enter the premises.